"Cooking Lesson #6: How to Cook Bicol Express [My Version]"
What’s up steemians! Before I’ve shifted to writing more about science, I’ve been also blogging about cooking and foods. In fact, I have this cooking series before where I share my own way of cooking different Filipino dishes such as adobo.
It is comprised of 5 episodes and the most recent one was published about 4 months ago. Now to continue that series, here’s my own version of Bicol Express for our Cooking Lesson #6 by your chef next door, 
By the way, I am not really an expert of this; I am just a self-proclaimed master of the kitchen hahaha. If you have any comments and suggestions, you can drop them on the comment section below. Would also love to see the foods you personally cook.
What is Bicol Express?
Bicol Express
If you've been following my blog, you'd probably have learned that Bicol Express is one of my all-time favorite Filipino dishes! Bicol Express is made by cooking pork meat with coconut milk and shrimp paste added with a lot of chili and pepper.
I don’t personally like shrimp paste so I wouldn’t use any on my version. This dish popularly known for being so spicy, but it doesn’t have to be spicy; it all depends upon your own satisfaction and desires. Haha!
What are the ingredients?
This dish will of course, require you pork meat about 1 or 1/2 kilo. Meat near the stomach are the best for this. Then you'll need to cut theminto small pieces or bite size or any preferred sizes.
Then of course you'll need spices such as ginger, onions, garlic and chili. You may use as many chili peppers, it really depends upon your tastes and satisfaction, just don't let the spiciness spoil its flavor. Then you'll need to clean up those and then slice it accordingly.
Since I did not find any coconut milk being sold nearby, I used this Knorr Ginataang Gulay mix. It's an all in one powdered coconut milk mix.
You just need to dissolve the powder in hot water first before mixing it into our meat. Like this photo below. That's not a milk, that's what happened after I dissolved the powder in hot water.
You need to dissolve the powder well to avoid thickening after being added to the pork meat. And of course if you don't want to eat concentrated powder.
The Procedure
First, fry the fats of the pork meat using its own oil. You may also add small amount of cooking oil if you want. Again it all depends on you. Wait until it turn into light brown. Set aside the meat then saute the ingredients.
Saute the ingredients beside the meat. Before, I usually cook the garlic first then the onion but now, I don't really care about the order. But anyway, here's the order.
First, garlic and onions,
then ginger,
then the chili pepper,
You can always experiment and come up with your own version though. Just saute and mix all the ingredients with the pork meat.
Add water, wait for about 10 to 15 minutes or until it boils. Check its meat if it is already soft, tender and juicy! You don't want to eat a rubber-like meat. You can also add salt if you want. I heard salt helps meat softens a bit faster than usual.
After it boils and right after its meat softens, add the dissolved coconut powdered milk into our mixture. Stir and mix it well to homogenize the mixture. Wait 5 to 10 minutes or until the soup thickens a bit.
Our Bicol Express is ready. I did not added paste shrimp because I don't like it. Below is the photo I took right after it was cooked. I did not have the chance to transfer it because I was so hungry already hahaha!
If you want to read my previous cooking blog (the episode 5), then CLICK HERE.
You will also find a link to Lessons 1-4 there. Thank you!
